


come back to us

by stillness_of_remembering



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Anger, Awkwardness, Confrontations, Gen, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kageyama is awkward, Kitagawa Daiichi, Middle School, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, Pre-Canon, Second Chances, Short, Short One Shot, argument, but he does, kindaichi is precious, kunimi is tired, kunimi pretends he doesnt care, theyre all trying their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24815722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillness_of_remembering/pseuds/stillness_of_remembering
Summary: It was like there was a Before Kageyama and an After Kageyama, except Kunimi couldn’t find the dividing moment. When had Kageyama started blowing them off to stay after and practice more? When had they stopped inviting him to walk home with them? When had he changed? Kunimi didn’t know, but he did know that there was nothing left of Before Kageyama in Kageyama now.This Kageyama was a tyrant. A cruel and cold king who belittled and hurt those around him. But Kindaichi wanted to talk to him about it, to try and get him to change his ways, or whatever. Kunimi.. well, Kunimi didn’t think anything would come of it, but he had come along anyway.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio & Kindaichi Yuutarou, Kageyama Tobio & Kindaichi Yuutarou & Kunimi Akira, Kageyama Tobio & Kunimi Akira, Kindaichi Yuutarou & Kunimi Akira
Comments: 4
Kudos: 76





	come back to us

Their footsteps were quiet on the tiled locker room floor. Kunimi knew that neither of them wanted to alert Kageyama to their approach, though they certainly had never voiced this sentiment nor intentionally tried to muffle the noises of their steps and the door. Yet, somehow it happened anyway. 

The rest of the team had already left. Kageyama had kept all of them already at least an hour or two past when practice should have run, and he himself stayed longer. The sun had long since set outside the brightly lit gym and Kunimi knew that when he walked home with Kindaichi, he would clearly be able to see the stars overhead. 

Usually, Kunimi would have left with the others, but today he and Kindaichi had stayed later, even after the coach and manager left, practicing as far from Kageyama as they could while still staying on the court. The atmosphere had been horribly stifled and awkward, and Kunimi could see Kindaichi keep sneaking glances at Kageyama. He himself had done the same a couple times, and had never seen Kageyama’s gaze meet his own. The King had looked just as unaffected as always, scowling icily at the ball as he practiced his serves.

Was it wrong that Kunimi felt satisfied that Kageyama was still nowhere near the level of their previous upperclassman, Oikawa? If it was, Kunimi couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Kunimi looked up through dark bangs at Kindaichi, who he knew was hiding his nerves with an aggressive countenance. 

Kageyama was just around the corner. 

Kageyama, who had stripped down Kindaichi’s confidence and joy in playing with his caustic criticism, who was never satisfied with the back-breaking effort they put in. Genius Kageyama, who grasped every technique immediately and didn’t forgive his teammates when they failed to do the same. Kunimi almost couldn’t reconcile this Kageyama with the one who had visited the convenience store with him and Kindaichi and bought a little carton of milk every day after practice last year, and gone to see the newest Avengers movie with them, paying for all of their popcorn, and gushed on and on about Oikawa’s skill with pink cheeks and sparkling eyes. 

It was like there was a Before Kageyama and an After Kageyama, except Kunimi couldn’t find the dividing moment. When had Kageyama started blowing them off to stay after and practice more? When had they stopped inviting him to walk home with them? When had he changed? Kunimi didn’t know, but he did know that there was nothing left of Before Kageyama in Kageyama now. 

This Kageyama was a tyrant. A cruel and cold king who belittled and hurt those around him. But, Kindaichi wanted to talk to him about it, to try and get him to change his ways, or whatever. Kunimi.. well, Kunimi didn’t think anything would come of it, but he had come along anyway. 

They turned the corner, Kindaichi first and Kunimi following a step behind him.

Kageyama was sitting there on a bench, tying his shoes with his characteristic frown on his face. His gym bag was zipped beside him, as well as his bookbag. He looked up at them sharply, expression unchanged. Kunimi sighed. He really wanted to go home. Beside him, Kindaichi squared his shoulders and balled his hands into fists. 

“You- You need to stop how you’re treating all of us, Kageyama,” Kindaichi said, far too loudly. He seemed to realize this after the fact, judging by the red tinge that appeared high on his cheekbones, atop the angry flush that already decorated his face. Kageyama simply blinked and slightly cocked his head to the side. Was he.. confused? Kindaichi seemed to take this as his cue to continue.

“We don’t appreciate it and it’s bad for the team, so just. Stop.” Kindaichi’s voice was quieter now, but his words were no less rehearsed. He took a deep breath and kept going. “If you don’t, we’ll-”   
  
“Stop what?” Kageyama spoke for the first time. He still had a frown but his voice was utterly baffled. Did he really not know?   
  
“Do you really not know?” Kunimi was too shocked to adopt the sharp tone he had planned on taking in this conversation. He couldn’t fathom the fact that Kageyama didn’t know that how he’d been acting had been cruel and destructive. He was so clearly unkind? Kunimi thought over the hell that Kageyama had made their club become. He told his teammates regularly that they were being lazy or that they weren’t taking practice seriously when they were clearly giving it their all. He berated them for small mistakes and gave them impossible sets, only to get angry at them afterwards for their inability to hit them. How could he not know?

“No.” Kageyama responded simply. 

Kindaichi looked just as stunned as Kunimi, and was without anything to say now that his carefully planned speech had been interrupted in such an unexpected way. It was Kunimi, usually the cool-tempered, logical one, who out of any of them was the one who _could_ have been called lazy, who felt words bubbling up his throat that he couldn’t stop and didn’t have time to think through. 

“You’ve been a tyrant! Nothing we ever do is enough for you, no matter how hard we try! You’ve completely failed to build up the talent of anyone else or- or this entire team despite being the captain.” Kunimi watched Kageyama inhale sharply, and continued. “It’s no wonder half the first years quit, because of how you constantly insult us and belittle us for not being as perfect as you. You only care about yourself, not the team, unless we can be of use to you.” In the silence that echoed after this proclamation, Kunimi slowly became aware that he was breathing quickly and he felt hot, though he had finished practicing at least 20 minutes ago. His fingernails bit into the flesh of his palms. 

Kageyama looked completely stunned. “I.. Am I really that bad? I never, I never realized.” Kageyama trailed off. This time, Kindaichi and Kunimi held their tongues, giving him a minute to formulate his thoughts. His frown deepened and he continued, speaking faster than before. “I’ve only ever tried to make them- you improve! If everyone just listened to my criticism-”

“What you do isn’t criticism. You aren’t helping us do better, you’re expecting us to do the impossible.” Kindaichi cut Kageyama off firmly. Kunimi was proud that Kindaichi had realized (with lots of help and reassurance from Kunimi) that Kageyama’s cruelty towards him was unjustified, but he was afraid now that Kageyama’s response would reverse all the progress they had made. Kunimi had spent many afternoons after practice in Kindaichi’s room, watching him cry over what their former friend had said to him at practice that day, and it had been difficult convincing him that Kageyama was the one in the wrong. Kunimi, though subjected to the same “advice,” hadn’t been affected as much. He had gotten past their friendship much faster, and resented Kageyama much more.

“But I don’t ask the impossible!” Kageyama said, his confusion and anger palpable in his tone. He crossed his arms. “What I ask is completely manageable, you just aren’t trying.” 

Kindaichi stepped forward and Kunimi grabbed onto his arm in case he was about to lunge for Kageyama, though he wouldn’t totally blame him if he did.

“No, it’s not. Listen, and get this into your head.” Kunimi had never heard his own voice as cutting as it was in this moment. “When you ask us to jump higher and we don’t, it’s because we physically can not. When you ask us to spike faster and we don’t, it’s not because we don’t care. It’s because we can’t make our arm come down any faster than it does. We are _trying_. It’s you who doesn’t try to sync with us at all.”

Kageyama finally looked like maybe he got it. His eyes were wide (in confusion? Comprehension? Shock? Kunimi realized that he couldn’t read Kageyama as well as he used to be able to, and he didn’t know how that made him feel.), and his characteristic grimace was absent from his face. 

“What do I do to fix it?” Kageyama asked, staring up at the two of them, who still stood awkwardly at the entrance of the locker room. His question was completely unashamed, and he sounded determined, if anything. 

“Well, like I said before, you need to stop the unfair criticism!” Kindaichi said. 

“Um.” Kageyama seemed hesitant. “But. How would I know when its fair or unfair?” This was a valid point, Kunimi conceded. Kageyama obviously had flawed standards, and wasn’t the best at communication in general.

Kunimi shared a loaded glance with Kindaichi. Should they let him back into their lives? Kindaichi’s barely perceptible nod said yes, but Kunimi still wasn’t sure. He supposed he would go along with it again though, if only to keep Kindaichi from having to handle it on his own. He sighed in acquiescence and was rewarded with a slight smile from Kindaichi.

“We’ll help you.” Kindaichi’s offer of aid was more like a statement, but Kageyama didn’t seem to mind, or at all consider declining. “And there’s more stuff too, like encouragement, and proper training schedules, that captains need to do. Walk home with us. We can stop by the convenience store. We’ll tell you the things you need to fix, specifically.”

Kageyama nodded, not even questioning what was wrong with his training schedules. At this point his defensiveness was completely drained away, replaced with what Kunimi hoped was the openness to learn and change.

“And not just today. Every day after practice, come with us.” Kindaichi blurted out, this offer to respark what they had making him (them) vulnerable. Kunimi thought Kindaichi wanted Kageyama’s friendship again a little too badly. If Kageyama went back to the way he was, Kunimi would have to pick up the pieces.   
  


“But-” Kageyama predictably protested, frown deepening.

  
“You practice more than enough. And this will help the team overall more than your practice alone anyway.” 

After a few long seconds of silence, Kageyama agreed, “Alright. And… I’m sorry.” 

It appeared genuine, and Kunimi believed it, but at the same time he was afraid it wouldn’t hold up. Kageyama really acted like he would change his behaviour if prompted to, but would this attitude hold up on the court? What if tomorrow, everything went back to normal? And then there was Kindaichi, who Kunimi knew would be overjoyed by the apology. It was for his sake that Kunimi had come here in the first place and it was for him that Kunimi would accept this apology now, even if he didn’t completely trust it.

“I don’t forgive you, but I’ll give this a shot,” Kunimi said honestly when it appeared that Kindaichi would be letting him respond to Kageyama. The silence after that was awkward, but as they left the gym, Kindaichi managed to engage Kageyama in some uncontroversial conversation about the national volleyball team. Kunimi, for the moment, was content to just observe Kageyama. 

He was quieter than Kunimi remembered him being as a first year, but Kindaichi’s hopeful enthusiasm seemed to excite him as well. He wasn’t Before Kageyama anymore, but he wasn’t the Kageyama Kunimi had dealt with for the last year either. Kageyama had actually acknowledged that he was wrong, something Kunimi never thought he would see happen, and now Kunimi could tell that he was actually putting effort into talking to Kindaichi. Kageyama, trying to be friendly - just the effort separated him from how he had acted not an hour ago. Kunimi wasn’t entirely sure about this, but he supposed he would see where it went.


End file.
